As director of transplant surgery at the NYU Langone Medical Center, Dr. Lewis Teperman supervises operations, oversees research and academic programs, and furnishes general clinical leadership. Recently, Dr. Teperman and his colleagues delivered results for a study exploring the efficacy of the ELAD liver support system, a medical device that helps patients in the lead up to recovery or transplant, in individuals with liver failure.

The liver, a critical and complex organ, maintains the proper function of the body by manufacturing proteins and filtering toxins. The organ also has the capacity to regenerate cells, and some individuals with damage to their livers may be able to heal if an artificial liver could take over essential functions while the organ recuperated.

ELAD, the first ever bio-artificial liver designed to perform the above-outlined function, uses human liver cells grown in cartridges and placed on a bedside unit. A patient's blood goes through the cartridges, and the liver cells remove toxins and fabricate proteins prior to the blood's reentry into the patient.